April, 2020: Mezcal Tours and COVID-19: The state of Oaxaca, just like the rest of Mexico and the world, is effectively shut down. When government, airlines, lodgings and restaurants once again welcome tourism, we still might not be 100% out of the woods, and so we want to assure prospective mezcal excursion clients that we will do everything reasonably under our control and in our power to ensure that both you, as well as our distiller friends and their families, are kept safe and not exposed to the virus. In this regard, until further notice, for excursions into the foreseeable future, we urge you to bring along your own masks and sanitizer. For our part, we will be giving each client a new, traditional mezcal drinking cup, known as a jícara, for use on the tour and to take home with you. There will be no sharing from the same cup or glass. Some folks in rural Oaxaca are still not fully sensitive to the current risks, and so we will ensure that prior to taking out any clients, our contacts in the villages are brought up to speed. But for now, and certainly through the end of April and likely somewhat longer, there will obviously be no Oaxaca mezcal tours. Our excursions will resume when it’s safe for everyone. However, we continue to accept mezcal excursion reservations for the summer, autumn and winter. We hope to be able to proceed.
In order to be reasonably assured that we can accommodate your preferred date(s) for a Oaxaca mezcal tour, best to contact us well in advance of your visit to Oaxaca. Mezcal is a full time passion, but only a part - time vocation. However, if you simply are not in a position to reach out well before your trip to Oaxaca for a mezcal excursion, we will do our best to accommodate you for a day of mezcal education.
Aunque podemos hacer las excursiones en español, si tienes la preferencia por este idioma, podemos recomendar un colega mexicano con mucha experiencia sobre el mezcal.
Our Oaxaca mezcal distillery tours take individuals, couples and groups of any size who want to learn about mezcal and / or buy at rock bottom prices, for one or two day comprehensive experiences out into the hinterland of Oaxaca. We journey into the villages to teach primarily about the production of the agave based spirit, mezcal. We visit small,family owned and operated distilleries (palenques as they’re known in the state of Oaxaca) which produce this fine spirit in clay vessels (ancestral distillation), and in traditional copper pot stills or alembics (artisanal distillation).
Follow the latest photos and videos of our Oaxaca mezcal tours on Instagram: @mezcaled
If learning about mezcal is a primarily reason for visiting Oaxaca, then please consider booking a date for a mezcal tour prior to arranging hotel / airline reservations, since we are often booked months in advance, and don't want to disappoint any prospective clients by having to turn them away.
These are personalized, custom-designed educational excursions designed for all: novices; industry professionals such as restaurant and bar owners and their staff; and simply those visitors to Oaxaca who are interested in a real cultural experience, off-the-beaten-track and un-touristy to the extreme. We take our clients to visit the makers of this exquisite and complex alcoholic drink (palenqueros) in their homes, in their quaint distilleries, and sometimes into their fields, all as a conduit for learning about agave, mezcal and/or pulque; and for buying.
We believe in mezcal industry fair trade, at least to the extent that we ensure that our clients purchase directly from a select number of distillers (if they are interested in purchasing), that is the owners of small, mom-and-pop palenques who typically have limited if any access to the export market. Every centavo (penny) of your purchase goes directly into the pocket of the palenquero and his/her family, to assist with their living expenses, and with growing more agave and producing a quality spirit for us to enjoy and savor. No middle men!
However there is never, ever any pressure whatsoever to purchase mezcal. But if you enjoy fine spirits you will be given the opportunity to buy (after extensive sampling of course) directly from the producers, at a fraction of the cost you would pay back home, or at a mezcalería or other retail outlet in the city of Oaxaca for that matter. But to be sure, we have no vested interest in convincing anyone to buy mezcal, although it is noteworthy that by doing so the savings generally pay for your cost of the entire day with Oaxaca Mezcal Tours.
If considering autumn, 2020, for a visit to Oaxaca, perhaps inquire about our special group mezcal tour scheduled for November 27, a very long day's excursion deep into the Albarradas region of Oaxaca, for learning, sampling and discussing both ancestral clay vessel and traditional (artisanal) copper pot still distillation, including breakfast en route, and lunch prepared by the family of one of the palenqueros we will be visiting. This is a once-a-year offering over the US Thanksgiving weekend because the demand for our excursions is so high around that time of year, and we try to do our best to accommodate prospective clients as best possible. But note that this day is not a small personalized excursion like the ones we offer the rest of the year.
Email us at oaxacamezcaltours at hotmail dot com
Follow the latest photos and videos of our Oaxaca mezcal tours on Instagram: @mezcaled
If learning about mezcal is a primarily reason for visiting Oaxaca, then please consider booking a date for a mezcal tour prior to arranging hotel / airline reservations, since we are often booked months in advance, and don't want to disappoint any prospective clients by having to turn them away.
These are personalized, custom-designed educational excursions designed for all: novices; industry professionals such as restaurant and bar owners and their staff; and simply those visitors to Oaxaca who are interested in a real cultural experience, off-the-beaten-track and un-touristy to the extreme. We take our clients to visit the makers of this exquisite and complex alcoholic drink (palenqueros) in their homes, in their quaint distilleries, and sometimes into their fields, all as a conduit for learning about agave, mezcal and/or pulque; and for buying.
We believe in mezcal industry fair trade, at least to the extent that we ensure that our clients purchase directly from a select number of distillers (if they are interested in purchasing), that is the owners of small, mom-and-pop palenques who typically have limited if any access to the export market. Every centavo (penny) of your purchase goes directly into the pocket of the palenquero and his/her family, to assist with their living expenses, and with growing more agave and producing a quality spirit for us to enjoy and savor. No middle men!
However there is never, ever any pressure whatsoever to purchase mezcal. But if you enjoy fine spirits you will be given the opportunity to buy (after extensive sampling of course) directly from the producers, at a fraction of the cost you would pay back home, or at a mezcalería or other retail outlet in the city of Oaxaca for that matter. But to be sure, we have no vested interest in convincing anyone to buy mezcal, although it is noteworthy that by doing so the savings generally pay for your cost of the entire day with Oaxaca Mezcal Tours.
If considering autumn, 2020, for a visit to Oaxaca, perhaps inquire about our special group mezcal tour scheduled for November 27, a very long day's excursion deep into the Albarradas region of Oaxaca, for learning, sampling and discussing both ancestral clay vessel and traditional (artisanal) copper pot still distillation, including breakfast en route, and lunch prepared by the family of one of the palenqueros we will be visiting. This is a once-a-year offering over the US Thanksgiving weekend because the demand for our excursions is so high around that time of year, and we try to do our best to accommodate prospective clients as best possible. But note that this day is not a small personalized excursion like the ones we offer the rest of the year.
Email us at oaxacamezcaltours at hotmail dot com
